A greater evil
by MadderRedd
Summary: (A feverish, dumb story about sentient quirks that become evil, about as good as it sounds, includes cameos from a friend, the story is influenced by polls and comments! SYOC of sorts, I'm picky) Humanity takes quirks for granted, they don't like that.
1. Catching up

Green, skittering irises scanned the surface of a screen, hungrily scanning for meaningful information to absorb from the plethora of news, gossip sites, and blogs that to which Izuku Midoriya adhered.

Most headlines and articles were simply bland; minor gossip like rumours of a romance between a pro hero and a former vigilante. Others detailed new breakthroughs in research about quirk activation methods... Which while important and interesting, seemed to be extremely inconclusive and irrelevant, with little to no useful applications to heroes or society.

As he stared at the screen, he occasionally noticed his own fingers as they shifted webpages downward a few times. They were still gruesomely scarred, belonging to an old, timeworn warrior who fought with tooth and nail for his life; the very opposite of the nubile smoothness expected of a high school student. Oddly, his left hand appeared to be in better condition than the right, this being due to his left fist being disintegrated and reformed multiple times during his encounter with Overhaul.

It had been a complicated fight; if not for Mirio and Aizawa helping, it would've been over very quickly... And yet here he was, technically benefitting from his near-death experience. The Eight Expendables and the Precepts of Death had been defeated after the brief but brutal confrontation, Eri was safe, and the perpetrators captured— much to their dismay. Most of had really wanted to die for their organization—to go out with a bang that would save their boss.

The Heroes, being heroes, ignored their sentiment, and denied them the death that they craved. A life was a life, and to them, such a life must be saved even if that means beating them it into a pulp and restraining its owner.

Izuku, on the other hand, felt strange. Eri was in recovery, and despite the many frictions with his classmates once the little undercover operation was over, he finally felt like a true hero. Before, he had been attacked, he had saved other heroes, he had fought for his survival and the survival of his fellow classmates. Now, having saved Eri, he could claim to have aided someone innocent, someone who had no way or intent to fight, someone who could end fights, undoubtedly, but she never meant to... It was all involuntarily, a reflex or instinct of her quirk.

In the end, the little girl was safe, and now the most eventful ordeals that he faced were his classes and the occasional set of nosy interviewers. Izuku felt oddly flattered; class 1-A and 1-B were now being interviewed and talked about not because All Might was their teacher, or because Yuuei was a prestigious school! Now, it was because each student who had gone out to the field now had their own little cult following: Fans!

The very idea often left him in a state of hazy disbelief. Even now, pride swelled pert within him as thoughts of saving Eri, appealing to his fans, and laughing whist carrying half a dozen accident victims on his shoulders became dominant within his head.

Unbeknownst to him, his current fit of daydreaming caused his slurred chuckles and boyish blushing to catch the attention of a few of his classmates.

The deadness of the day lent much to wandering eyes; Iida and Momo insisted that they studied, Kirishima, Bakugou, Mina, Sero, Denki, and Rikidou went to the school gyms to train and play -something- in their free time, while others went out to shop or run around in town. Right now, Izuku was alone with Tsuyu, Tokoyami and Jirou, all of whom seemed to be independently distracted with their respective hobbies: books, music, and poetry.

Every now and then, Tsuyu replied to some messages from a friend outside school, before getting back to reading. It seemed she was mostly going through the pages to wait for her friend to reply, really.

Izuku kept scrolling, something caught his eye, mainly because of just how contrived and complicated the article seemed to be.

"Heroes investigate the attack and robbery of the QIRF, suspected connection to vigilante/villain fan base"

According to the article, the QIRF (Quirk information and research foundation) had been recently sent threats, and had their fancy-looking building vandalized. After an online group delivered a particularly specific threat, the foundation had been raided clean, and while no information was "exclusive" to the foundation, what was lost still contained historic and otherwise important records of quirks and the individuals who had them.

A few staff members were found incredibly wounded yet alive the article mentioned "incredibly brutal, savage fighting" somewhere in online groups had begun to take interest in villains and vigilantes—they were famous and revered in a manner similar to Heroes, albeit less often in person. Therefore, anonymous or pseudonymous sites allowed them to interact with fans, especially as of late.

Through his reasoned Izuku recognized the trend as an incredibly popular one. Perhaps a bunch of fans trying to impress a villain? Was this how vigilantes had to try to gain access to information? Where villains using threats and messages to impress and instill further fear before committing the crime?

At any rate, the event was equivalent to a library being raided, most of the information inside it was either too old or too vague, the important quirk data was held in more secure institutions like the pro hero registry and the civilian quirk registry.

"We suspect that this group -who call themselves 'agents of the pact' online- are the same ones who protested against quirk experimentation and research in other laboratories and even medical facilities. We believe at least one of the 4 or so recognized individuals had a powerful quirk." were the closing lines one of the detectives gave to the press.

Many other websites offered places for fans, heroes and communities to flourish, for better or for worse. So far, the league of villains and the Eight Expendables where all in jail, or in some form of confinement! Even all for one! Truly these where the times of peace that would allow a new symbol of hope to rise... Well, he would rise to become the new symbol of hope, in theory.

The fact that a bunch of overzealous fans -he was an overzealous fan himself, in a moment of clarity- took some information from an old archive was likely not something he should concern himself with, and if it became such, Sir Nighteye, Mirio and All Mig- Toshinori would let him know.

These articles tickled many parts of his nervous, if not polarizing and brave self. No part of him could resist geeking out over hero gossip and news, and as a hero in training, any sort of criminal investigation would teach him in some way. Very rarely did something slip by his fine, analytic gaze— whenever he wasn't freaking out over something, that is.

* * *

Elsewhere, a similar, yet far less grounded individual mumbled sentences presented to him by his environment.

"Let us be what we are, to be anything else would be fatal."

"Make our blood pact hold against the tyranny."

"Magnificent acts of magnificence."

And lastly... The one which upset him the most.

"We will transcend the very meaning of heroes and villains."

Tomura mulled over the scribblings that street thugs and nobodies had been painting recently all over the street, in tiny papers, in pamphlets…Even in overly ornate graffiti. He didn't know what they meant, but they upset him; he was one of the few free villains in the street, and the fact that some dumb online meme community was having more of an impact than him as of late was just infuriating.

He swallowed dryly and traced his five fingers around a section of wall as he walked by, making the graffiti scrape and flake off like paint being eaten by solvent.

"I will find you, stupid NPC…"

* * *

Within a large room dominated by computer screens spoke a pair of individuals, their silhouettes plastered to the room's back wall.

"So uh! What next?" a very petite, peach-skinned girl with tattoos and orange hair asked to a much taller, robed man.

"We already knew where the rats where hiding, why did we have to check first?"

In response, another figure— that of a strange looking man with oversized shoulders whose skeleton, baldness, and apeish stance conflict with one another—chided his smaller counterpart.

"Rats? Do not speak like that of our companions..." The robed man spoke.

Tired and clearly not very energetic, his clothes looked heavy, woven tightly and folded many times over, as if his figure was blanketed by heavy, wet fabric.

"Our siblings abandoned us, we must make sure they arrive home well and healthy." he stated following heavy sigh.

The many screens in the room made it hard to see anything—to hear anything. About 20 or so individuals were present in total; all watching, typing, talking, listening. Eventually, one of them broke the cacophony in an attempt at putting some order in the chaotic reunion. She wore purple-rimmed glasses and kept her red hair in a bun; a formal look if not for the few bits that the low, changing lights allowed the eye to see.

With a gentle adjustment of her glasses and a snap of her fingers, all heads turned to her, and all sounds went away. Most of them were used to her abilities, but some still groaned from being forced to pay attention.

"While I appreciate our flexible schedule and eagerness to spread our mantra to the world, I do believe we should make a move sooner rather than later." she briefly explained and pointed her fingers to the large, robed man.

"Thank you, Adavina" he replied, placing his hands to the shoulders of the petite, orange-haired girl and to the large, bony man.

"Amensis and Felhid... " He began to explain before a red-hooded, masked man leapt out, alongside a tall... Thing, which seemed to be following him closely. Its gender was difficult to discern; metal was grafted in many places and its general shape, while human, was very gruesome. Leather-like skin and profusions of bulging organs and metal inserts permeated its shape.

As if indifferent to his appearance, the white-masked male owner to which the ghastly frame belonged interjected roughly.

"If bloodbag and brittle bones are going, I want to go too! Ya know? Aren't we supposed to be a squad? The whole 'body of the pact' or somethin like that?" he grunted.

Reflexively, the tall, metal-grafted creature grunted in ascent. Bands of barbed metal plating covered its face and mouth, thus guttural sounds were its only response option.

The girl -Amensis- and the skeletal, bulky man -Felhid- stared at the two others, clearly not pleased with their intrusion but at least Amensis seemed happy that they would come along.

"Oho! More people to make a mess with! You know what I like, Mori!" She giggles and somewhat eagerly punches the white-masked male in the arm, in a friendly fashion

"Won't this be Overkill? I accept working with my peers, but all of us? Even just Ghele could scour the area clean." placing his heavy-looking hand on the shoulder of the metal-grafted being.

The tired, robed man laughed slightly "I think you three should make a good display of our power... Be ready, study the enemy and await for our signal."

With this utterance and twirl of his fingers, his robes began to fold and twist, seemingly compressing into a single spot, and with a flash of light, his clothing became a small cube of metal which he held in his hand.

"Very well... The blood, flesh, bone and humor." he pointed to the four individuals "Will be the ones to try and intercept my brother and stop his little escapade." he announced to the whole 'court' before dismissing them, the conference room was still very much full even as they left to get ready.

"Ada, do we have everything ready for the broadcast?" He asked her... It was easy to assume she was very much a secretary "we do, my dear brother... "

* * *

 _ **AN:** Let it be known that this is the very first ever that I actually write down into a site... most of my works are private and shared with silly links to folders... So this is me going "public" so to speak._

 _The story takes place a while after our heroes confront the eight precepts and Expendables, unless the canon changes by the time I write a particular scene: nobody is dead, people are in or about to be in captivity or free just as in canon, and Eri Is safe in a rehabilitation center._

 _There are no pairings as of yet, and while I have a ship or two I want to include, I am simply terrible at realizing who works with who besides "it makes sense" so, any suggestions will be welcome._

 _I will be writing characters who, by design or characteristics, will likely be very graphical, provocative, depressing or outright offensive, this is meant to cause anger in both our protagonists and the reader, but I do not intend to offend anyone by doing this, you have been warned._

 _This first episode was mostly a test of my own writing skills, so if grammar or formatting sucks, let me know! English is not my first language and even if I feel incredibly dumb at times when people correct me, I want that, I want to learn and improve! So any feedback or criticism is welcome._

 _Any observations that you, the reader makes, will be taken into account as this fic progresses, let me provide an example... If someone comments about how x was mentioned and found it curious, then that thing will either be also noticed or ignored by the characters._

 _Consider this some form of experimental writing, if you see an evil dude being evil in the background, commenting and analyzing will affect the outcome of his evil plan._

 _I do have a whole plot planned out, and it is very flexible and branching in terms of possibilities, hence why I wanted to explore my own array of ideas with the reader..._

 _So if you want a ship, tell me and I'll work it in if it makes sense, if you think you figured out the villain, comment or message and I may tell you a couple secrets, the readers will even decide what happens to some characters when they are defeated, or in which order the fights take place._

 _So yeah, if this catches your eye, please ask, comment, speculate, guess... Anything like that!_


	2. Bloody vandalism

Things escalated awfully fast after the first few threats became a reality.

Fatgum had lost his appetite, and aizawa looked genuinely shocked out of his tired daze, both things happened very rarely, but the sight that greeted them deserved it.

The night-patrolling Eraserhead recieved the signal from one of the many hero agencies that worked nearby UA, they where tight knit, and they had worked together to bring down the eight precepts, they where fast to respond to the emergency.

But seemingly not fast enough.

They found a sole survivor of an attack, she was kneeling and crying at the end of a long, bloodied hallway, it was a 24/7 pharmacy, late night security guards and other staff members where scattered in the floor leading to her, bodies and limbs mangled up in inhumane angles, as if they had no bones or structure.

Twisted into bundles and splattered in the walls like someone threw rotten tomatoes all over the place, the flesh, despite being fresh and recently alive, was absolutely devoid of tone or features, no faces, no fingers, no people, just bodies.

Aizawa shouta approached the scene, carefully inspecting the action, this was a messy scenario, it was going to be easy to find some sort of clue, his gaze peering through the slits in his googles.

"Are you injured, miss?"

He asked while approaching the woman, she seemed absolutely untouched, as if the bloody stains and minced meat avoided her.

"We are heroes, we come to help! You will be safe now, I assure you!" Fatgum cheered from behind, advancing slower towards the survivor of this killing spree.

Aizawa got a closer look at the woman... Her body had been misshapen, her joints twisting in unnatural angles and contorted bulges ran along her legs, likely the reason she was unable to stand, on the floor next to her and on the many scattered limbs and patches of skin there was something scribbled, etched into the bodies.

" _heroes are too slow, too weak"_

Over and over, like a mantra, a message from the perpetrator, obviously.

Aizawa finally got close enough to the woman, unlike the other victims, she was merely disabled by the criminal... Not torn apart into lumps of meat.

"Can you stand? We have to take you somewhere safe"

The woman kept crying, her workmates and even the security members where gone so quickly... She didn't believe how impossibly fast and brutal the assault was, no quirk could allow a human to do what she had witnessed, it was simply impossible.

She looked up to aizawa "W-who rang... The alarm? Who survived?" She asked, raising her own hands to reach for aizawa's shoulders, to let herself be carried.

"This is all we found, nobody else is in the building" aizawa slowly lifted her and carried her outside, fatgum inspected the few storage rooms and shelves... All raided clean and empty.

The girl began to scream as her muscles seemed to tense up, clenching and holding onto aizawa somewhat involuntarily, as if she was being forced to.

The pro hero moved her hand from his shoulder and looked at her, was she the cause of this? No, her quirk was being disabled and pharmacies usually contracted logistic or speed related quirks.

She kept screaming, drawing the attention of fatgum, who rushed out of the storage room to help.

"Is she hurt? What happened?" Aizawa moved faster towards the exit, knowing that paramedics would show up soon... She was in great pain from the aftereffects of whatever quirk she was subjected to, the medics would know how to stop these pains.

The mature woman was convulsing and crying, begging for help, something to stop her own body from crushing itself with each pulse of joint-splitting tension.

She nearly begged to be choked with those white bandages

* * *

There where three other similar cases in the upcoming weeks, all incidents happened with overwhelming, unexpected amounts of violence and speed, before alarms could trigger, before victims could run, before guards and heroes could fight back or even activate their quirks.

All four cases where being closely monitored by the media and pro heroes, but the news reached everyone.

These crimes where something else.

The next one happened during a police intervention in a domestic violence situation, four policemen, two adults and a child, all found dead and bled dry, no major wounds where visible on the surface, but they had been cooked and bruised from the inside out.

Written in blood, on the patrol cars and in the street, with an awfully femenine, delicate handwriting

" _you are not safe, your walls and weapons cannot stop us"_

The third and arguably most impactful case happened in broad light, where a group of fleeing criminals - three of them - where impaled, the concrete split under them and a large, off-white stake of bone and sinew speared them, across the chest, across the torso, and through the skull from the chin.

Everyone saw it happen, but nobody knew who did it, the bone stakes raised and grew, becoming rather monumental, for the entire street to see.

And etched into these sharp spires, in black tendons, one could make out words.

" _right or wrong, good or bad, you will only live if you deserve to"_

The fourth and last incident was actually the murder of a villain, a criminal who dealt in drugs, one of the few who benefited from the eight precepts being gone.

His underground den and bar storefront had been bleached and leveled, the building was in shambles, plenty of people escaped the colapsing building, but nobody made it out of the underground lair, which was reduced to a noxious, smoking crater full of toxic fumes.

The villain himself had a pretty handy quirk, he could use his arms just like a break-action shotgun, not to mention he was fairly street-smart.

Unlike the guards and police in the other cases, the crime scene looked like he put up a fight.

The entire building and basement reeked, of a strange mixture of bitter sweat, sulphur, urine and blood, stains of yellow fluid and chemical burns where visible on the floor and walls, in the bodies of the many goons that where smashed and pulverized against concrete or wood.

The floor was littered with spent shotgun shells and brass casings, but the hazmat police and detectives who investigated the scene noticed no bullet holes or a meaningful amount of lead shot.

Whatever they shot at, they did hit, a lot.

Bloodied, stained money sprawled around the dead villain 'Mr mossberg' and his crushed phone was found lodged inside his heart, his entire body had been crushed and compacted by brute force.

" _be afraid, but do not hate us, this is our nature"_

kurogiri recieved this message, it was sent to all contacts that mossberg had, and those contacts spread the rumors and fear like wildfire, making its way to the few remaining members of the league of villains.

"Problematic and messy, they lack finesse and professionalism"

The warp gate - and barman - served himself a glass of something, as to how he drank it, it was hard to tell.

"But the psychological warfare seems effective"

* * *

"You see? We aim to entertain! We have many members with various methods and goals, but all in all, we are an organization with a simple objective: to make things interesting"

A man - dressed as what could be described as a jester - spoke into the camera, he wore a plain mask with three segments, divided at the mouth and down the nose, making an inverse Y shape, the smile was painted with a gentle smile.

"Now now, you must be thinking 'but won't they be angry? Won't they try to find you?' and i say: they will try"

He was in charge of this week's live stream, they had few fans, some where likely just for the morbid curiosity, some truly shared their viewpoint and some where likely trying to trace or find the source.

"But our magnificent leader is wise, and our broadcasts have been safe and constant, haven't they? I assure you, they cannot find us, they are like headless chickens trying to find a needle in a haystack"

He loved his job, not only this whole 'spooky villain' act, he loved to entertain, to see the chat and news react to their actions, to think of some morbid, depraved crowd enjoying this show, screening their recent acts and celebrating them.

"This is not senseless violence! Well, it is senseless and it is violent... But it is so much more, wouldn't you agree?" He gestured to his fellow members, many silouettes could be seen behind the little stage he had set up, all of them remained silent but one "Be done with your foolishness" followed by the room glowing orange under the heat and radiating flames of one of the individuals in the room

"Whoops! You heard him, we must continue plotting and spreading in a more... Subtle way, see you next time! Same place! Same time!"

* * *

Izuku closed his laptop, he had found the website where this so called "pact" hosted it's show, before, the same site was full of posts and articles about topics like fan theories about heroes or villains, or nerdy analysis of recent televised fights, even some scientific research about quirks made it to the front page.

But now, it was mostly a group of individuals - judging by administrator status, 5 of them - putting together a villain organization.

They refused to be called villains, instead calling themselves "the pact" or "the oath" or even "the covenant" which made it clear that they weren't very well organized.

But the group was about 26 members strong, and it's follower count was hundreds last week, breaking a thousand today.

He found it all very worrysome, this was yet another method for villains to assemble, and since it was flourishing, police and hero organizations couldn't track them down, likely due to a jamming or encrypting quirk on their side, even their followers where protected by this.

He was deep in thought, somewhat lost in it until he heard three energetic knocks on the door

"Deku?"

"Uhm... Uraraka? Y-yeah?"

A brief giggle could be heard in the other side of the door "yaomomo and rikidou are making some snacks for us all! I-i wanted to see if you could join us!" Izuku could nearly hear her enthusiastic fist pumps.

Izuku stood up and stared at the closed laptop.

Even if it became a mayor issue, this had to be the first villain attack that was nowhere near aimed at him or Toshinori, and even if it came to him having to intervene, he had to also focus on school and his friends.

There where plenty of pro heroes, they would figure out how to stop them.

"T-thanks for letting me know! I'll be downstairs in a bit!"

Ochako wanted to go downstairs with him, but she figured he was busy, and decided not to pry, making her way to the stairs "very well! Don't take too long, you know kirishima and kaminari eat quickly!"

Deku smiled, UA and his class where the best thing to happen to him since getting one for all, and that was the best thing since meeting all might, and that was the best thing since meeting her mom

He felt so happy about his life, through all hardships and challenges, he always had so much hope in his heart and friends to rely on.

All he wanted was to be strong and be able to keep things like this, this is part of the story of how he became the greatest hero, after all.

* * *

 **AN:** someone noticed my ramblings! and even followed? neato, im glad it is interesting! this is being posted mainly on AO3 but i will do my best to also keep updated.

im still getting used to both plataforms and hopefully i dont mess up too hard.


	3. We have free time too!

**AN:** I see the counts slowly rising and they make me both proud and afraid, but both sensations make me go forth and write more.

Also! Lordy lord, did I make some mess ups when formatting/posting the second and this chapter. Still getting used to Ao3 and , great plataforms, but I'm just clumsy and keep running into stuff.

* * *

The warm welcoming scent of baked sweets and the sounds of laughter and bickering of his classmates filled his senses as he made his way downstairs to the common room of the UA dorms, as he walked out of the stairwell, he walked into a rather... Strange scene.

Sero and Mezou where doing their best to restrain Kirishima, Kaminari and Mineta from devouring the recently laid tray of macaroons.

"Please, listen for a moment" the deep, rarely-heard voice of Shoji was easy to tell from the laughter and back-and-forth complaints of the hungry trio

"Hey! It's not my fault that Rikidou is so good at baking!"

"Hey, I did say I was gonna make plenty, so just... Be patient? Please!?"

"Well, the girls got to eat first! And so did shouto and bakugou! Why didn't we get to eat from the first batch?"

Izuku sighed and smiled as he walked closer, it felt so nice to have friends both as reckless and as responsible as his class.

"Hey, not my fault you where too busy staring at Yaoyorozu in an apron instead of eating"

"It's just not fair, Rikidou and shouto get to be in the kitchen with Yao and the other girls! Why are they special!"

Jirou smacked him with one of her earjacks, while at the same time grabbing a chip from the nearby bowl and scrolling through her phone.

"Try having self-control and some useful skills or knowledge, that'd help you"

Rikidou was indeed good at baking and general cooking, while shouto wasn't nowhere as experienced, his abilities where useful for many methods of cooking and freezing, he was in fact, responsible for the very crisp, delicious creme brulee they had a few days ago.

His friends eventually noticed him, and stopped fighting, for the most part, as he just leaned closer and before taking one of the sweet confections, looked for Yaoyorozu.

"C-can I? Just one?"

"By all means, we made them for the class, almost everyone has tried them already"

So he went ahead and took one, eating the sweet, nutty, cookie-like confections, it's rich flavor and texture where great, as expected of the resident group of cooks.

While most of the time they ate instant, ready-made food or at the cafeteria, every now and then someone would organize a movie or game night, which called for snacks, be it chips, sandwiches or sushi of some kind.

This was one of these nights, and nearly everyone was present or had been part of this before he arrived, considering he took a bit more than usual to showing up.

That, and some of his classmates either couldn't show up, or often decided not to.

It wasn't a matter of disliking these kinds of meetings, but some of them REALLY needed to get some studying done, either willingly or with the encouragement of the class rep and vice rep.

Now that his classmates stopped struggling and Sero and Mezou had them go, the macaroons where gone in under a minute.

He sat down, next to Iida and across uraraka, who smiled wide at him "deku! I'm so glad you could join us"

While most of them where at the table, some where also at the living room -esque part of the common room, Ojiro and Tokoyami where taking turns at a survival horror game... Passing the controllers at each death, judging by how his tail was moving, Ojiro was clearly a bit more scared, but the tail was also held still in some parts.

Likely meaning that Hagakure was petting his tail to comfort him and sitting next to him, and next to her was Ashido, likely there just to see how they would react when a spooky monster showed up.

"What the fuck took you so long? They made some dumb, complex candy for us and people fought for it until you walk in like you own this place?!" Bakugou was clearly misinterpreting the situation again- was he? -to get mad at Izuku, which resulted in glares from ochako and tsuyu, who where more or less doing a joint effort to 'train' bakugou to be more civil.

It wasn't unlike what they had to do in their internships or the stealth rescue mission.

bakugou was great when he was angry _at villains,_ basically everyone in class wanted him to keep things civil in class, anger wasn't bad in itself, just... Aim it somewhere else.

"K-kacchan! I was uh... Doing some minor research, ya know... Deku stuff, hero gossip and articles"

At the mention of this, Kaminari coughed and choked on his drink, after a few moments to get back his composure, he spoke up "oh, have you heard about that one uh... Was it a clothing brand? Yeah, I think one of the new villains is actually selling stuff with their logo and quotes on it"

At the mention of this, the few at the table went somewhat silent, realizing it was a somewhat serious villain topic. Kaminari realized this and giggled nervously

"I just thought it was kinda cool, I mean... Selling clothes instead of robbing a bank is somewhat... Better, right?"

Jirou smiled "heh, I saw an article and a couple new tracks... They have one of them making music too, he isn't bad"

"So now we have villains who just make normal livelihood and hobbies without getting caught?" Kirishima made the obvious but very unusual realization "I mean... Any form of business is a better way of living than pure villainy, but how are they doing this without getting... Ya know, caught?"

Kaminari seemed to know an awful lot about this group

"Well, uh... I've heard, at least... " He was clearly nervous, he already had bad image for being stupid and having a cumbersome quirk, he did not want to come off as a villain fanboy.

"That they have some _seriously_ strong, weird quirks along their group, like... New age kinda stuff, nobody knows why since... Well, it's a very new thing and whatnot, but they keep talking about some sort of quirk that enhances other quirks"

He laughed "but I mean, literally anyone can access their site, buy their merch and watch their shows... They are not trying to be secret, like... At all"

Izuku and Iida where both grinding gears inside their skull over this, uraraka was just surprised that he knew this much, while the rest just let him speak

"And i mean, as Jirou said" he shot a clumsy wink her way, a failed attempt at courting her.

"They clearly have free time and hobbies like other people, they make music and stuff... They act like they're not villains to begin with, heck, they might be everywhere and we might not know it"

Sero stared at him and, wrapping an arm around him in a headlock, have him a friendly nudge, ruffling his yellow hair a bit

"I'm glad we have a villain social media expert on the team then! Means we can follow them, right?"

Izuku swallowed and nervously looked at the two classmates "to be honest... I was indeed looking at them, they have a noticeable amount of people following them"

This caused Tsuyu to perk up "are you one of those followers, Kaminari? It certainly sounds like you are"

Kaminari laughed "well, the host is really charming! And there is no harm in watching it, it's like the news? I don't think it's helping or supporting them in any way, they don't accept any form of support from their 'fans' which... I'm not really one of?"

Iida looked somewhat sternly at Kaminari "we have all seen the unpunished, unjustified actions that the group has carried out, even if it's not apparent if it supports them" he narrowed his gaze, making him look even more serious and even slightly threatening "I do not appreciate -any- of you indulging these voyeuristic villains"

Bakugou let out a dry chuckle "so what? I mean, if a thousand depraved fuckers like watching villains in some stupid show, it might as well be people who can stop them"

"He does have a good point, plus, we know that it is impossible to transmit or activate quirks through internet or most indirect mediums"

Yaoyorozu put her two cents in, they had recently studied quirk - technology relations, while some quirks can affect technology, quirks have a limited radius from the user, even a quirk that could, say, hypnotize someone through a computer, would have to be close to the target and even then it would be just one person being affected.

"Hey, it beats most online entertainment outside of porn and whatnot" Mineta commented before stuffing his face with a handful of chips

Iida sighed "very well, it isn't forbidden... But I will inform the teachers if necessary, do not hesitate to inform any of your classmates if something suspicious shows up"

The entire group nodded, the tensions had risen and fallen somewhat rapidly, but all was well now, they comunicated their concerns and knowledge openly... Considering how the hero killer and eight precepts had come to be, if class 1-A needed anything, was to communicate more.

* * *

The same shit-eating grin masked guy was broadcasting again

"Now, we have received a few personal threats and attacks after we became 'hero' like by killing a couple villains"

This time, despite wearing the same smiling mask and skin-concealing, tight suit, he wore a business attire instead of the jester one last time.

"Needless to say, these attacks where dealt with, with no losses in our side! As i say again and again... Magnificent displays of magnificence! We did not falter against some angry subordinates"

Shiragaki felt his muscles tense around the wooden bar he was reclining against, he wanted to pulverize his masked head off and spread the remains like confetti

"Now, I know some of you in the crowd will be all like 'but those guys where weak! I'm super duper strong and smart' and to that i say... Yeah! You might be super duper strong and smart"

He pulled out a handgun from his suit, and a stack of papers from under the desk, the entire setup looked like an actual newscast, instead of the prancy theatre stage last time.

"We have sent a couple of our agents to search for a couple of special people, people that we wan- no, that we need! It sucks saying that we need someone..."

He read the front of the stack of papers "huh, kids? Are you sure we need kids?" He asked someone behind the camera, and waited for a response

"Well... Boss orders, I deliver! Some... Students from UA and a few of their relatives will be involved, mainly that uh... Crap"

He went through the papers and finally settled in one "ah yes, todoroki! That name has a lot of weight behind it ya see? It's quite the tragic story"

Many images went through the screen, showing pictures of todoroki shouto, todoroki enji and his wife... As well as a couple newspaper articles and court orders..

"We have a lot of filth on that name, plenty of shit weighing it down, but we have shit on every human being on Earth, so who cares"

"You might be saying... How the heck did they get that info? How the heck do we know its true? Isn't this a low blow?"

The masked man simply laughed, his laugher was sharp and annoying, it sharpened any hatred that Shiragaki already had for him

"The answer is.. we raided a couple more places like... 20? 20 minutes ago, official government and agency archives"

The many incriminating, exposing images went through the screen, highlighting that the relationship was incredibly unstable, abusive and simply... Unnatural from all three angles.

"Worry not, we didn't kill anyone, it was a clean in-and-out, heck! One of my favorite agents said that she wanted one of Endeavor's clothes to sniff or something, so if he finds any missing underwear, that's why"

Both kurogiri and Shiragaki where mildly disgusted by this part.

"We also have plenty of incriminating evidence of other heroes... Oh, and villains too! But we will leave that for another time"

A loud, angry growl followed by a shaky camera and crackling akin to a burning fireplace could be heard off camera.

"Seriously, boss! If he doesn't like me working my magic, why do you insist on making him watch? Like, can't he wait outside while we broadcast this shit?"

"I shall reduce you to ashes, you empty puppet"

"Puppet? I'm seriously offended!" He took the handgun and pointed it to his temple, with a fearless stare into the camera and a loud bang, he shot himself.

Much to Shiragaki's dismay, he seemed unfazed by the bullet and burning blast.

after a few seconds, he did not even go limp, instead turning his head to the side, to show the clean hole that went through

"I assure you, no editing magic required... Now, where was I? Ah yes, the todoroki kid... We where originally planning to take both Endeavor and his wife a while ago, but hey! they had a kid, so that is waaaaay easier! Plus, we have a plan b anyways"

He still had a hole in his head, no blood was coming out and his neck was turned at an awkward angle even as he spoke, the rest of his body acting pretty much normally, as if his head still faced forwards

"Some other targets will include that one... Crap, the Ibara girl! Yeah? Bloodbag says that her hair would be nice to have around..."

He shifted through the pages

"And lastly, our most important target... Will be a trio of researchers that... Recently, recently as in like... 'will happen in a few minutes' survived one of our attacks, and will likely head to UA for refuge and solace"

He put down the papers and raised both arms with open palms facing up a 'I don't know' gesture

"That's the plan at least, and yes! I know we are giving out a lot of info for free, but it will not matter in the end, or maybe it will! Who knows! Our goal is to entertain, to liberate and to reveal... "

He laughed once more

"So that's it folks, enji is an asshole, shouto's mom got fucked and punched against her will, the kid and his school is about to get attacked, and I'm suuuure a lot of you are concerned or worried for them, or hell!-" he pointed towards himself and leaned closer towards the camera, sticking the pinky finger of his other hand in the hole in his temple "you might be worried about the wellbeing of the agents of this wonderful pact"

"But as we have told this world many times, you cannot build walls or laws that will resist against our oath, I'm sure that spreading this information will only make things harder for us" he clapped, a few off-camera voices could be heard groaning, others cheering him on

"And that is exactly what we want! So please, if you want a front row seat to the show, just ask UA! Until then... See you guys next time, same place, same time! I love you guys!"

He placed both hands over his mask and blew a kiss before the camera cut off

"Don't even think about it, Shiragaki tomura"

Shiragaki turned to face kurogiri "you know they'll be distracted with heroes, backstabs deal extra damage in every game"

Kurogiri sighed, he had a good point

"If anything, we can just watch, maybe? You know it'd be kinda fun? I mean... It fucking sucks to not take part, but it's helpful" twice spoke up, it was rare for the league to be this talkative, but the show did indeed make things interesting

* * *

The news spread fast, Endeavor faced a massive public blow and backlash against his agency.

'he is no real hero!'

'the violent case of the todoroki family!'

All these headlines and protests upset him, he wasn't angry at shouto, he knew that he hated this too, he was just so absolutely furious and had no way to direct this anger at anyone but himself.

Not only did he let himself make these stupid decisions, but also failed to cover these tracks and evidence.

In a moment of enlightenment and humility, he almost blamed himself, but that would have to wait until after he apologized to the public and did some damage control.

He wasn't just a hero, he was a businessman, but that would have to wait until he crushed the plans of the pathetic bunch of villains that decided to mess with todoroki enji

He was a cruel father, a cruel hero... But he was still a hero, and one that nobody should mess with, he would not forgive this kind of transgression with reasoning like many other pro heroes would.

* * *

Todoroki had come to visit his mother, to bring her some of the caramelized fruit that he helped make back at UA and to talk with her as per usual, but as he walked into the medical room and looked at the ceiling-mounted TV and recognized himself in the news, his guts twisted in disgust, shame and anger.

Most of it wasn't about him, he was a bastard and he had come to terms with it, his class and all the tribulations of making his fire his own power where something, going against his father's wishes was something else.

But her mother was crying, not only had she been condemned to suffer in this place, but now everyone knew... She clenched at her hair at the thought of how everyone would see her poor child.

He was a calm and collected person, sometimes out of obliviousness or simplicity, but right now he was having a hard time keeping himself in one piece, the articles didn't offend him, but they hurt one of the few things that fueled his journey and joy.

* * *

Izuku and Kaminari both informed the class as soon as they knew, and before the class could inform the teachers, they already knew.

Fearing the worst, izuku went through the last few moments of the last broadcast and blog posts, which detailed the specific targets of this incursion upon UA

The list was short and sweet, but each name made his heart sink deeper, heavy with dread

 _Tomorrow! Make sure the three traitors are there too!_

 _primary targets_

 _Uraraka Ochako_

 _Todoroki Shouto_

 _Kaminari Denki_

 _Secondary targets/objectives_

 _Ibara shiozaki (bloody wants her)_

 _Incapacitate/subjugate as many teachers as possible! No killing, boss orders!_

 _With love, DM~_

he showed the list to aizawa, who was on the recieving end of a long explanation/freakout hybrid from Kaminari

"So you know their site directly? And you didn't tell us?"

"It was stupid, yes, but their site was open to everyone, I thought some pro heroes where watching them too!"

Whatever excuses they had, it didn't matter.

Todoroki had to deal with an awful lot of stares on his way back to UA, he didn't acknowledge them, it only made him angrier by proxy... This was what her mother feared, not his fear.

Everyone in school was freaking out, as much as classes continued to go as normal, eventually the school loudspeaker system blared up

"This is principal nedzu! Talking to all classes to confirm and reassure that the school is being prepared to face any potential threat"

"I am in the process of reinforcing security by hiring extra forces from hero agencies, as well as taking extra measures to assure that nobody will be hurt"

The voice calmed most, it was part of being a student hero, to have to stand steadfast against villainy should the need arise.

But nobody expected a threat to just be thrown right into their faces.

* * *

Classes 1- A and B where gathered in the same room, a large conference room which principal nedzu had called them into, alongside with most of the relevant staff.

"As many of you may know, four of our students have been targeted specifically"

"Who, as well as most of our school staff, might be attacked at some point tomorrow"

Principal nedzu walked back and forth the front of the room, with Toshinori, Aizawa, Sekijiro and Kayama behind him

"The main concern for all of us is of course, to assure the safety of all of our students, but special attention will be paid to those who where targeted"

He used a small controller to show a capture of the website of the organization, everyone knew the first few names, who where part of class A, but with a few whispers of "Finally! They're paying attention to us, the superior class!" From Monoma, most where shocked that Ibara was targeted too, out of a whim, by the sounds of it.

"We have hired help from all the surrounding agencies... Most of which have worked with us in the past, the public is deeply concerned about the safety of our school, while the media might be throwing rocks at our prestigious school, we did not become the top hero academia for nothing! They may speak Ill of us, but public image is worthless compared to your lives"

Nedzu explained as he pressed the button again, which displayed yet another capture of the website... This time, detailing that only 4 of them would attack, and would simply walk in the main gate.

 _Be good little boys and girls and don't resist! We don't want collateral damage! You know how good we are at damage!_

 _We will keep the cameras away, this'll be our secret!_

 _Don't hide! And remember: we know where you live! You wouldn't want to endanger your family too, would you?_

 _Think of it as a date._

 _With love, DM~_

"While this might be trickery to get us to become distracted, we have taken that into account, most classes tomorrow will be cancelled or dismissed early, however..."

He pressed the button again, and this time it showed a snippet of a newspaper article, in which news reporters where butchered outside their homes before they could even try to approach UA to report on the situation

"Most of their statements and threats have been followed to a T, so we cannot risk classes A and B not being in the safety of UA... As much as the media would criticize it"

He made no mention of the todoroki scandal, knowing well it was not important to this security briefing, and that Endeavor would personally be here, wether he asked for help or not.

"Our main plan is to incapacitate the villains, so far they have not fought any heroes, so we expect them to use 'hit and run' tactics, for which we have built traps and have takedown specialists with us" to which he gestured to the teachers behind him, all but Toshinori had excellent restraint quirks, and pointed to a blueprint of the UA campus and many sensors and various traps spread through it, even the robots for tests!

"Lastly, but not least... We are aware that many of you might want to engage -or avoid- personal combat with these villains... While we plan for them to never reach you, as all of you know from the experience with the league of villains..." He coughed, a bit upset at the bitter memory "that is not always possible... So as last time, fighting is permitted but only as a last resort!" He pointed his finger upwards to make emphasis

"Some third year students also offered to aid in this situation, so make sure to follow the orders of your teachers and upperclassmen should the need arise"

With a final click, he sighed, the standard classes where over, and the only students who remained where the ones who had dorms in-campus, so he took his time explaining everything

"Any questions?"

Most students where scared, a few where angry and some thought it would just be over soon... Considering that the villains would be walking directly into UA and given them time to prepare.

As he was preparing to bow, the alarm system went off, and everyone's blood ran cold.

"Please stay calm, let us handle this" aizawa quickly made his way out of the attirum and, following the directions of the alarm system, to the main yard, while nedzu used the microphone again "remain calm and head outside in a orderly manner!" Toshinori went to class A while Sekijiro made sure class B also kept calm while evacuating.

"Keep calm, young heroes! This might be just the increased security being tested!" Toshinori smiled weakly while his class followed along, all hero class students where wise enough to know that there was nothing to freak out until you saw a villain.

Kayama -midnight- followed after aizawa, to catch up to him as he oh so eagerly jumped solo into action 'this man's selflessness will be the end of him' she thought to berate him as she arrived next to him

both teachers froze up as they arrived to the center of the campus grounds, in the field laid two seemingly unconscious bodies in white lab coats, a third lab coated man stood tall over the last individual.

"Now, if I where a lesser creature, I would be saying 'you owe your life to me' but we all know that you guys don't have a life to call your own quite yet" he spoke down to the others, who listened, slowly getting up from the floor.

A very smug, grinning mask was the first thing they say, in a purple-red-white jester attire, or at least very similar.

"You know the boss knows you are doing this, and you know you will be punished"

The only standing -researcher- by the looks of it, spoke to the jester "silly Rourou, we know nobody can punish me! If anything, the boss will be proud! I'm following the pact down to the fine print"

The rest of the UA crowd arrived shortly to the open grounds, expecting villains instead of three scientists and a goddamn clown.

However, everyone recognized said clown and his infuriating voice and smile.

"Oh sheesh, uh... What a crowd!"


	4. Tough crowd

**AN:** I did up writing two chapters, if anyone feels OOC do let me know!

And well, while my fast uploads haven't allowed it, I still want reader feedback to shape this story! Do you like him? Or her? Is this plan dumb? Are they too obvious? Is it a lie or not?

* * *

Here where my options

I could run as fast as my shaky legs could carry me, but I know how fast they are.

I could fight as hard as my fragile frame could fight back, but I know how strong they are.

I could explain the reason for my presence, but I know how angry they are.

So instead I did what I do best, what the oath told me to do, and what I love to do.

Be a traitorous liar.

Cheat like a motherfucker.

* * *

He looked at the students and teachers, all of them heroes or with hero potential.

He sighed in defeat and raised both arms as mechanical click-clacks could be heard under his clothes, wires and strings began to tense as the stripes on his jester costume began to fold and flip into white.

His hands clasped wooden sticks that shit from under his sleeve, the sticks unrolled white fabric, tiny white flags.

"I give up! Okay? I surrender! I was merely pretending! It was just a prank!"

He stood still as a street sign.

Despite his compliance, he was bombarded by a cone of fire from above as endeavor jumped in from his watchful position and torched him.

Figuring out that agression was okay, shouto indulged his little vengative thoughts and joined his father, immolating the jester.

At this point 'Rourou' had covered his two weakened companions and carried them to a safe distance, the flames scorched his coat and clung to his clothes.

Not even an bit of pain or panic where displayed in his somewhat square features, he looked old and tired, but had a gentle air around him, specially as he watched the todoroki duo torch the villain.

As much as todoroki hated endeavor and endeavor found todoroki to be extremely immature, the destructive effect of their combined flames was absolute.

"Are you guys done yet?"

His voice was barely hearable among the roaring flames, but he was still standing, unfazed.

Knowing well that the flames of his son wouldn't hurt him, endeavor jumped into the flaming cone and delivered a straight punch to him, his fist covered in the hottest flame he could produce.

Under normal protocols, the UA staff would apprehend the villain, heroes where obligated by law to never use lethal force unless necessary, but endeavor seemed to be lost in anger, as was shouto.

"You will regret making her cry"

Shouto wanted to scream, but it was kept to a seething whisper, as he could no longer feel resistance against his flames and his body temperature reached it's limit, both flame-wielders figured it was enough, and stopped attacking.

As the flames died down and endeavor jumped out of them to land next to his son, -shooting a mild glare at him, as per usual- a small sound could be heard, akin to mumbling.

"-and I know you have daddy issues, but c'mon!"

Standing there, was the still intact jester, still white and still with his arms raised.

Both where shocked at this, endeavor himself delivered many direct punches to him, and felt the force go through, most students had gone to secure positions by now -despite Izuku's protests- in order to let the teachers fight.

"B-but we have to get todoroki! If they want him we-" the green haired boy was speechless as he saw the smiling mask shine as if the flames didn't even graze it

"Now, I deeply apologize, I will do it on camera if you want me to"

Endeavor stomped closer and grabbed the much smaller, scrawnier man but the neck and lifted him up, sneering down at him

"Why the hell aren't you a burnt up crisp by now, you buffoon!"

Shouto wanted to ask the same.

With a sigh, the jester simply groaned and whimpered at the physical agression, and with another set of mechanical clicking, he slipped past Endeavor's grasp.

At this point, all of UA's teachers had them surrounded

"That's usually happens when you burn things with fire, yeah! Did you expect me to burn?"

Endeavor tried to grab him again, his hand went through him

"I really don't want to fight, my quirk sucks at fighting! You see..." Before he could finish his sentence, he was roughly pulled by Aizawa's bandages and restrained

"Who are you and what are you doing here? Is the attack already taking place?"

"You hero guys are reaaaaally grabby"

Nedzu rubbed his chin

"It would seem you wanted to make sure your own story was true, wasn't it? Aren't those who came with you the researchers you mentioned?"

"Finally! Someone with a sense of civility!"

"Im flattered! But I insist you still answer what we ask of you"

Inside the man, another set of wires and strings could be heard pulling on eachother, and as if he wasn't there, he went through the bandages with ease, bypassing it all, leaving aizawa with a tired sigh.

"You should consider expecting less of yourselves, heroes"

He pointed to aizawa and endeavor, the lower and left section of his three-part smiling mask flipped inwards -where a face should've been- and revealed another perfectly fitting section, instead of just a smile, this one had a stuck out tongue and winking eye.

With the same motion, they returned to it's gentle smile

"You are a really smart rat-thing! But of course, you must be thinking 'he already knew that!' and to that I say... Yes, I was simply following my own agenda"

"Why don't we take this conversation elsewhere?"

* * *

Izuku and his classmates where safe by the looks of it, seeing that it wasn't really an attack to begin with.

Todoroki was back at the dorms and Toshinori had made sure the trip back was safe, constantly reporting back to the security systems and the other teachers.

"Well then, you seem a bit... Distressed, my boy! What is troubling you"

Everyone seemed a bit distressed, but they knew one thing: right now wasn't the time to be distressed, that could wait until tomorrow.

And thus most of them where trying to relax, with tea, hot chocolate, food... Checking in with their relatives and friends - Uraraka in particular - to calm any insecurities they might have.

"I just did not think of the possibility of infighting inside a criminal organization, all of the villains we have fought had absolute loyalty to something... Themselves or a stronger, smarter villain... And they would follow said orders to the end! It doesn't seem very logical to spend weeks building himself as the image and symbol of the pact to just come and surrender to us"

Izuku ramblings always had a hint of brilliant thought, and it resonated with Toshinori

"You are very right, and I assure you that we expect exactly that... Villains are tricky and without morals... And we know how to handle them! It is our duty as heroes and protectors of youth!"

Even after all this time, Toshinori still had the words and voice to bring hope and peace to troubled minds, his presence helped further soothe his students.

Uraraka could be heard sobbing softly as she spoke to her parents, but her soft, round features slowly curled into a smile, as her parents reassured her.

The sight made Izuku slightly sad... She was so far away from home.

Todoroki and Kaminari where handling this completely differently.

Todoroki was confident in himself, he wasn't reckless like bakugou or hesitant like izuku, he would face whatever came to get him and succeed.

But in the back of his mind, something still bothered him... Not only did someone survive his attacks unscathed, but survived his attacks **and** his father's.

Not only that, but in a fit of rage, he cooperated with endeavor... If that clown had just insulted endeavor, he would've thanked him.

He was furious for different reasons yet they automatically cooperated to attack him, it was an attack that hurt their pride in very different ways yet it still lead to one thing: vengeance

He still hated endeavor, but he hated the clown even more.

It bothered him that neither his hateful attacks or his father's even scratched his smiling mask.

Kaminari was scrolling through his phone

 _Now listen, if this text is ever posted, it means I was likely captured! Now I know that sounds like a fault in our plan... But worry not!_

 _Someone else will keep you -our adoring fans- entertained if something ever -would- happen to me (which is impossible)_

 _I could walk out of this silly prison at any time, nothing can stop me!_

 _Pleaser of crowds! DM~_

Few people expected anything from Kaminari Denki, that made him sad, but that was also... Very liberating.

It meant that anything from him would be seen as an achievement.

Not that he would know all of this, yet he subconsciously enjoyed this sensation, of being able to use his abilities -or lack of- as excuses or justitications.

He was afraid of what the pact could want with him, but he was also curious.

* * *

"Are you sure you are alright?"

Kendou checked on her... She could hardly be blamed for being worried about Ibara, her usually green hair was a bit pale, not unlike a malnourished plant.

"I-i do admit I'm a bit surprised, but I believe in our teachers and their abilities, UA Is a prestigious institution after all"

Class 1- B was also at their dorms at this point, Sekijiro followed them back just like Toshinori, and not unlike 1-A they where all a bit shaky.

However -not unlike Kaminari- they knew that being rarely noticed also meant less problems.

They where a tight knit group, just as any other class in UA, not just the heroics department.

Everyone was fairly supportive of Ibara and somewhat... Happy? That they where being paid attention.

"I'm not sure why you worry so much, if we are lucky... They'll just grab those 1-A idiots and let us be!"

Kendou swore that Monoma had some sort of fixation -sexual or otherwise- with comparison, she had to stop herself from berating him, part of her knew that deep down in that mess of words, he was trying to help her relax.

He was just really bad at it.

"While I approve of rivalry among classes and classmates... They are still human, Monoma" Sekijiro spoke up and sighed "if you want to be a better hero, be better than them at protecting themselves"

Wise words, Kendou smiled at their teacher and back at Ibara

"I still do not understand what vile criminals could possibly want of a pious, devoted hero student like me"

Juzo approached and shrugged, handing Ibara a packet of sweet bread that they had in the kitchen, he knew she liked it.

"Well... I don't know, everyone In heroics has great quirks, and these uh... Pact dudes are certainly not very conventional villains"

Ibara smiled and opened up the bread and eagerly ate.

"I don't really know what to expect"

* * *

"So you purposely sabotaged the incursion of four of your own criminal companions in order to assure that three of said criminal companions would survive and escape the assault since they defected the villainous oath you made with your leader"

Nedzu sipped his tea briefly

"And delivered them to us in order to manipulate both us and your own criminal companions into fighting eachother"

The masked man nodded over and over

"You are really smart, I mean... Yeah, my fault for getting caught but.. yeah!" He enthusiastically confrimed.

Aizawa, midnight and power loader where incredibly confused at why would a villain do any of this.

"I'm sure they could tell you this themselves... But when someone betrays the oath, bad things happen!"

Two of them where bedridden and the last one was right there, silent

"Oho? Interesting, then why are you not as injured or weakened as them?"

"Isn't it obvious? C'mon, I know you can use that big brain of yours!"

"My best guess is that the conditions of this... Oath vary from person to person"

"More or less"

"If you are so confident you won't be punished, why are you still here with us?"

Aizawa was the one who butted in, tired as ever but no longer tense as if battle as needed, this... Jester was harmless, he couldn't even open the door, he acted like he was made out of paper or wood, weightless.

"Simple, i really like watching shit go down"

"That seems awfully vain of you, I could disable your quirk and put you on quirk restraining gear... Toss you in jail or hand you over to endeavor"

"That seems awfully unnecessary! And simply impossible"

The jester have a small laugh.

"I mean... I just came here because these three really wanted to help you guys, they did a lot of stuff against the pact to get here"

This piques Nedzu's interest

"What is so special about us and the students you've targeted? Hrm? You seem to be about loyalty to oneself"

A deep breath and coarse voice permeated the room, it was grave and very tired, he was a very old man after all.

"It's because we want to stop them, the pact isn't about villainy or heroism, it's about quirks and nature" his voice drew attention naturally, it carried authority, which made some them uneasy.

"Present mic... Hizashi, right?"

The blonde teacher smiled and pointed at him "you've got it right, Gramps! The one and only"

"It is very complicated, but all sound-related quirks have a common ancestor... Not unlike how all dog breeds came from ancient wolves"

The man sighed, he looked like he would die at any time, yet he was till breathing and talking with relative ease.

"According to the records and data that both official and our own sources... All life forms on Earth share a common ancestor yet... quirks where never part of it"

He looked at the jester, who simply smiled back "oh Rourou, you sound so smart!"

"Our research theorized that... Well, quirks where introduced a long, long time ago, I'm sure a lot of you have heard myths and legends of ancient civilizations... Gods and Kings with powers that even today's quirks would have trouble competing with"

The old man sighed

"The pact wants to -Say, take all sound related quirks- with a lot of killing... and using the powers of the woman I bought here today"

He raised his fist, clenching it as if compressing together a mass

"Turn it to what it used to be, before it fused to a human"

The idea was simply alien, quirks where a product of evolution, or so it was agreed upon by many sophisticated tests and research

"That sounds highly improbable, considering many quirks are deeply ingrained in the human genome!" Nedzu bought up

"And yet, animals have it... You and a couple dozen cases around the globe"

The old man sighed "I don't expect you to believe me, I agreed to this to understand the shackles that bound me to this life" he unclenched his fist and placed his hand on his neck

"It already happened... Me and this... Thing, are proof of it, As is every member of the pact"

He signaled to the jester, who laughed "thing? I have a name, you know?"

"You never tell us your real name"

"Oh right, sorry! Just stick to DM"

Nedzu sighed, taking the last sip of tea

"So they want to come and take the quirks of our students? Is that why they targeted them?"

"Kind of... But they are not really necessary according to our research" he tapped his chin, covered in a long beard that along his overgrown hair, framed his face sparcely "some of us are... In simple terms, more quirk than human..."

* * *

 _Dear brother mine._

 _Don't lie to me._

 _Why did you leave us? Why did you leave all of us behind?_

 _I miss you already brother, it is cold without you._

 _My two sisters told me that you where afraid of being with me_

 _My two brothers said you where leaving because you didn't love me anymore_

 _Did they lie?_

 _Don't you understand? We where born together, all six of us._

 _Our mother told us to be together._

 _Even as her ashes and tears scattered across the world, she told us to never be afraid, that we had nothing to be afraid._

 _That isn't a lie, you told me so, and I trust you._

 _It hurts to be away from you, you told me you would never hurt me, that i was the only one you could trust in this world of uncertainty... A world full of liars._

 _But I cannot lie, you said you loved me because of it_

 _Where all of those lies? Sweet lies?_

 _You know I cannot lie, for when I lie, falsehood becomes truth._

 _Is that why I'm the only one you trust?_

 _But you told me that everyone around me lies._

 _Who do I trust? My dear brother... My twin, I do not know who to trust._

 _Brother, please... You know who is a liar, I need you to tell me who to trust._

 _Adavina and Vertrox... Tachiel and Servanda._

 _They are twins too, just like us..._

 _They told me that they have a family now, that my sisters are mothers now._

 _I will trust them until you tell me who is lying._

 _I wish you would have taken me with you... Only then would this biting cold stop gnawing at me._


	5. THE SCREAM

Chiyo -recovery girl- did not believe her eyes.

And yet she had to, because all of this was very real, it had to be, she had ran test after test and everyone else saw this too.

The three researchers that somehow appeared in the middle of UA, where by all means, walking corpses.

The man was clenching his head with the only hand he had, he woke up with a loud scream and fell unconscious again, over and over again he came back to reality... He was young, light brown hair and a small patch of unkempt facial hair on his sharp jawline... Turquoise eyes stared through round glasses... loosely and very twitchy, as if the veins in his eyes tugged at them in various angles at random times.

According to her tests and observation, he was missing about 85% of his brain mass and his left arm, it looked as if holes had been punched into his brain, a storm of lead or perhaps worms eating through it all, and yet at times he was conscious enough to ask her over and over "where is my sister?"

She did not know how to answer, he was in clear pain and despair, his whole body was still functioning as if his brain wasn't Swiss cheese, ocasionally having convulsions and tremors... Hallucinations perhaps, even without the wounds and lack of most of his brain, he did look very scrawny and malnourished, someone who spent more time thinking and researching than eating or working out.

The girl meanwhile, was consistently conscious and gave the old woman a constant warm smile.

"Thank you for taking care of us... I know it may not look like it, but we will be perfectly fine"

Chiyo nervously looked back, she was reading the last results of the tests.

The girl had lost portions of every internal organ, and was missing her uterus completely... Her blood pressure and contents where extremely low... These results did indeed belong to someone who was dead or about to be.

"I am only doing my job... But please, do tell.. is your other friend in... Just as a bad condition as you two?"

The girl was barely 18 -perhaps less- according to her predictions, yet she looked like a criminal had haphazardly assaulted her and harvested her organs for some shady trafficking... Her left eye had a large chunk cut off, turning it into a crescent rather than the usual circle or oval... She had rosy skin and long blue hair, she was meaty and healthy... Healthier and overall sturdier than the scrawny, malnourished man.

"Oh... Rougarl must be even worse... But he is also stronger than us, he should be back to full capacity faster too!"

She spoke as if this was common occurrence.

Chiyo could see their vital signs as well as conditions slowly improving, tissue began to regrow... And colapse, trying to fill in the spaces and failing, making very slow progress, but progress nonetheless.

This had no effect on the man's severed arm however, it had healed a long time ago, leaving a short stump at his shoulder.

Not only where these two in a beyond-salvageable condition, but they where recovering naturally, without her quirk... Which she had refused to even try after seeing the tests, she couldn't bring people back to life, even if they survived the exhaustion that healing caused.

"Oh, you... Hrm, recovery girl! Yes, we are in UA, I remember now!"

The girl laughed a bit "you can use your quirk on us... We won't die, It would help a bit... To make things faster"

Recovery girl did not believe what she was seeing, yet... She frowned.

"I assume you know how wounded you are... I wouldn't risk making things worse by... Messing with whatever you tw- three are doing to recover"

The girl smiled again "very well, I won't insist" she placed her hands on her own chest and breathed in... Something that should be impossible, considering her lungs had large holes in them.

It was as if these two had something functioning in place of their organs and brain, something... Holding them together despite the damage, it did affect them, but it did not kill them.

A few hours passed... It was late now, night was creeping into the sky and relative calm had been restored.

Scattered among many rooftops and rooms in tall buildings, they observed.

From a safe distance they watched events unfold, with the help of binoculars and telescopes.

They where well prepared with the same 'jamming technology' they used before at the ready, a call away -should the need arise- they did discover that UA was heightening their defences... A perimeter increase was possible.

"So... They have someone with a warp quirk too? That is incredibly unfair! I call bullshit!" Twice tried to keep his usual enthusiasm to himself, they where trying to be sneaky after all!

"Why didn't he escape the flames then? Or escape before being noticed? Or after being noticed?"

Dabi tsked and frowned, he wasn't a huge fan of overseeing action, yet they had to.

Talking over radio and long range direct audio -sometimes video- in order to decrease the odds of all of them being noticed or caught at once.

"I'm curious... I did see the video! I want to see if the masked guy bleeds... And.. and... I want to meet that girl... Bloodbag! That's what they called her, right? She must bleed very nice and be very strong to make requests like that"

Himiko was supposed to be observing too, instead she was laying on the bed behind Dabi, on a small laptop... Browsing the merch that was tagged "bloodbag" or related to said name, she found a bunch of tank tops and clothing articles, mainly scarves and skinny sports bras.

All of them had a consistent color scheme, deep, dark blue and bright red, woven together like two thick paints in an abstract art project, and a recurring symbol: chains and thorns, crossing over a clenched fist.

"I think we have someone with high bluff stats... Or maybe fire res... Hghhh..." He clawed at his neck, he had recovered or remade most of the hands he had lost or simply forgot to use.

He wanted to make him crumble, but he was quickly stopped and talked into relative calm by Kurogiri as he demanded to warp in to killsteal Endeavor.

"These are not the main carries, if anything it's just a support who dived the backline and got caught... We should've started watching tomorrow, this is a stupid waste of time"

"Shiragaki Tomura, we are here to gather information, and information is what we are getting... If anything, this means we have even more access to it if we manage to capture these weaker members of the pact"

Shiragaki grunted in response, the fancy black cloud was right... Kill the jester and get the wimpy researchers to talk.

"I am more curious now than ever! I have found a fellow... 'magician'! Think of all the tricks he must have up his sleeve"

Atsuhiro chuckled as he closed the blinds and adjusted the telescope "not to mention... You all saw how his warp quirk works, it is very unique... If my hypothesis is correct, he could even allow us to infiltrate and break out... Sensei? Should I even call him that, Shiragaki?"

Izuku could not believe his eyes, in live feed, in television... The same smug smile, the same colorful attire.

Aizawa and nedzu where still interrogating him, and they could see the television too.

Everyone could, as all televisions where forced to turn on, even if nobody was there to watch.

Was this just in UA? Was this just an effect of DM's quirk? Or was this a pre-recorded message sent from outside to all televisions through a hacked network?

"Oh hey, look! I'm there!"

"Oh hey, look! I'm on TV!"

Nedzu looked back and forth at the small television inside his office and at the man they had been interrogating.

"Oho? You have a member with a mimicry quirk? Perhaps your own quirk is about illusions?"

He calmly sipped his tea... He had gone through plenty of cups by now.

"Now, most of you know I was captured... And most of you must also be saying 'oh! There must be a member of the pact who can make clones... Or DM created some sort of illusion! He is a very smart, handsome man after all!' and to that I say... Nah, not at all, I'm still captured and being interrogated by a surprisingly smart, rat-sized bear and a bunch of tired school teachers"

"Hey, I speak the truth! My quirk has nothing to do with illusions... Otherwise I would be useful, and God forbid me being useful"

Aizawa was very sick and tired of this man, so was every present teacher even... He and nedzu had rambled at eachother for a while now, getting useful information every now and then... And the occasional explanation from 'Rourou' too.

The DM broadcasting through the TV laughed a bit "I must say, I'm very grateful to all my viewers... I wouldn't be capable of doing any of this without your support! All of you knew I was captured, thus I wasn't going to participate in this show further... That would make sense, right? One thing means another, one thing causes another"

He raised his hands and turned upwards, as if praising a higher power "behold: The magnificent truth! For that is the logic that the pact wields... To take a fact and turn it into a lie, to take a lie and turn it into fact..."

"We know that the super fancy-teachers must've stopped me! And my beloved fans knew I was captured or dead... And thus i would've been unable to broadcast... Yet here I am"

His mask creaked as they segments seemed to shake and tense, this happened to both of them, in the TV and outside.

"But now everyone expects the show to go on, so... Sadly, I must cut things short! Tomorrow I will be covering the fights at UA! and tonight, I will be making my great escape"

As the television turned to static, the entire room turned to face at the white-clad buffoon.

"He said it, not me! C'mon, you guys know I can't fight!"

Nedzu sipped his tea again.

"From what I've seen of your quirk, you could escape... We have a student with a very similar quirk, so we know how it would go"

"Quirk? You offend me"

To this, Rougarl rolled his eyes.

"We are agents of the pact, we don't have quirks... We are power incarnate, we aren't a pathetic manifestation of a single trait... We are a collection of them, or the source of them!"

"We have instincts and nature, and we follow them... They dictate how we think and what we can do, how we do it"

He stands up and gives a small bow... No, more like a reverence, a flourish of colors replaced the white in his clothing as he giggled.

Aizawa activated his quirk, his hair slowly rising as he stared at DM, Sekijiro reinforced the restraints by caging him in rings of his blood.

"Oho, quick to react! Worry not, none of this can stop me... Removing or deactivating one of the many threads that make up the network of my nature will not stop me, you'd need... Well, I'd say about 3-5 disabling quirks to render an agent powerless"

He walked forward, as if the rings of blood weren't even there, reality itself bent around him as it simply slid past him

He patted nedzu in the head, gently and playfully

"Of course, I may just be lying, bluffing... Manipulating you guys again! I'm such a tricky dude!"

His hand detached from his wrist, and floating hand came to the corner of his silouette and as if selecting an object inside a computer program, he selected himself

"I will be taking my leave now, it was such a pleasure to meet you all! And it was even more enjoyable to betray my leader in doing so... But now, just as I left them, I must leave you too... I must go home, to my sisters and brothers, to my twin and to my children"

"Asta la vista! Goodbye!"

With a flip and a blink, he was gone.

The blood didn't go with him, and neither did nedzu, nothing went with him.

"Hrm... So, these individuals... These agents... They not only have multiple quirks, but an overarching natural 'reign' over them"

Rougarl nodded.

"We do indeed... I'll be honest, we have all sorts of nonsense terms and explanations for all the bullshit we do and did"

He stood up and yawned... He really wanted some rest, he had been awake for so long, alive for so long.

"And all of that is supported by the oath we make with one of the founders of the group... Servanda... But, uh... My companion would be better suited to explain all of this, I believe he will wake up for good soon"

All three of the pact defectors where in the room, with nedzu and all of the UA teachers.

He was crying, kicking his legs like an angry child... Holding his head with a single hand.

She was smiling and staring, her gaze went from teacher to teacher, inspecting all of them over and over... Her eyes couldn't stay put, she didn't care if they noticed her gaze wandering around.

Rougarl simply yawned again and slapped the man in the middle.

"Scycliq, if you could use words instead of sibs and screams..."

"Cut him some slack... We where torn from the pact, he was torn from his twin"

He screamed again and again, absolute horror in his voice "MY SISTER, WHERE IS SHE!"

with yet another smack from Rougarl, he became silent.

"Scycliq... Calm down, explain... Tell them what they must know... This is an order"

"No, no no... NO! This wasn't supposed to happen, no! We where supposed to take her along..."

He was clawing at his head, nails digging into his own flesh as he tensed up and bit his tongue

"B-but we.. we can still fix this, I still see... I still see it all!"

None but him knew what he was talking about "you... You are heroes, strong heroes... I... I can't think too well, too many pieces missing, I can only see what I can think"

He let go of his own head.

"They... No, we... We agents, we are hard to kill, impossible to kill, we cannot die"

He began to calm down.

"They want us, we came here for refuge and protection... To tell you how to stop them, because we know how to stop ourselves"

He lifted up his only hand and stared at it.

"An agent of the pact... We can only be defeated by three things... And even then, most of the time... By definition, they would be impossible"

He pointed at aizawa.

"Quirks can weaken their power... Or they can weaken their bodies, they are massive machines of power that sustains itself, weaving and unraveling... Keeping itself afloat by a statement... And making themselves the topic of said statement"

He then pointed to Toshinori... And as he did, a gray fluid began to leak from his ears and nose

"To defeat us, you can become better at us than ourselves... You can make us betray our own promise... Or you can exploit the weakness inherent in ourselves... And make our statements a lie"

Everyone in this room took him for a rambling madman.

"Even if you where at full capacity, you would be too hard to understand!" The girl stood up and did a small bow.

"My name is Akos... Allow me to exemplify with myself" she lifted her hand and in her palm, a small puddle of fluid began to pool and became a sphere of semi-transparent tissue, with blood vessels surrounding it and linking it to her palm

"I vowed to forever be loyal to the outcasts... To the weak, to the forlorn... To those born without a mother or who grew without one"

"As long as I do so, my own natural powers will be fed by the other members of the pact, and my own powers will feed theirs"

The liquid began to ripple and shrink

"By making this oath, I became the mother of many, a wet nurse of many... In order to kill me, someone must usurp my position by being better than me... Become my successor if you will"

"However, they can also use the pact itself to kill or defeat me... Make it so I am not longer loyal to those in need, or make them not need me anymore"

"You can also strain both, you can rival our own power and blur the lines of our vows to weaken us enough that we become... Human again, mortal"

Rougarl laughed and coughed.

"You are a creepy woman... But it is true, we are part of the system itself, you cannot defeat or kill a member of the pact just by punching them... Unless their vows where to be unpunchable or the best puncher"

Most of this information would be relayed to all heroes that would be part of the security group to defend them

"Depending on what they promised and what they get in exchange, there are many ways to do this... Some of them are surprisingly complex or surprisingly simple, thankfully... Considering who will come to fight us, I believe that we will succeed... We will survive, we will live"

He spoke with more and more sorrow.

"Even if we did betray the pact, we did not break our oath, hence why we are alive"

Scycliq was biting his nails, he knew that most agents of the pact had incredibly well though, well planned vows and got very specific things out of the oath.

Servanda and her fine print contracts, how much she hated her sister... It felt nice... He looked around himself and saw nothing, it was late and everyone was getting ready for tomorrow... He remembered to look at everything, to see beyond each nook and cranny to find every possibility and explore them.

Losing was a possibility, but he saw more victory than defeat.

Oh siblings, let us rejoice... Let us love in the way we do best, in the way we promised to do so.

Amensis, you told us you loved pain, and cherished each bloody wound inflicted or taken more than you cherish your own life... And in doing so your blood became endless, and it could do things that blood could never do.

Felhid, you told us that despite your fragility, you would never falter against the pain, never shed a tear and never wince in pain... And in doing so, your bones would become endless and as malleable as words.

Ghele, you did not speak with words, but with hisses and grunts... But we understood, we understood how pain itself is often the best fuel, it keeps all of us going after all! You are the smartest among us, since you taught us many kinds of pain, as many as you could... And in doing so, your own anger and rage became endless and as strong as our will to live.

And I, Morituros, told you that my wounds would give life to many things... That with pain, I could describe something and then, become it... And in doing so, my flesh became endless and resilient, as resilient as tumors in decaying bodies.

Let us inflict pain upon eachother, and in doing so, show eachother how much we love our siblings.

Let us show this world that love and hate, that pleasure and pain... Are very much the same.

I will kill you as much as our enemies, that is true love!

We shall inflict pain upon eachother, we will practice pain as much as we once practiced love.

Eventually we will learn how to become pain.


End file.
